Heel protection device

ABSTRACT

In a device for the protection of floors and/or heels, in particular stilettos, which includes a flexible hollow body ( 1 ) for embracing the heel ( 9 ), an end wall ( 2 ) of the hollow body ( 1 ) comprises a plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means ( 5 ) and the oppositely located end wall ( 3 ) is designed to be slotted.

The invention relates to a device for the protection of floors and/or heels, in particular stilettos, including a flexible hollow body for embracing the heel.

High-heeled shoes like pumps or stilettos have enjoyed growing popularity for decades, whether as business shoes or in leisure time. In principle, a heel higher than 3 cm is already regarded as a “high heel”. The elevation of the ankle joints above the ground and also the altered weight distribution between forefoot and rearfoot as well as the resulting shift in the center of gravity bring about an altered posture accentuating the breast and buttocks, an altered yet at the same time more or less wobbly gait swaying the hips, and an increased risk of twisting one's ankle. In this respect, the risk of injury will be the higher the smaller the contact surface of the heel. Reasonably safe walking in shoes with heel heights ranging between 10 and 14 centimeters will require some practice while still not being possible on every ground and with every inclination or type of ground. Even with heels of lesser heights, the risk of injury will not be insignificant, in particular in the case of thin heels having small contact surfaces.

There are various shapes of heels, ranging from large supporting surfaces below the heel to the penny-shaped heels of stilettos, which will even taper to the ground. The high surface pressure occurring on a small heel surface entails the risk of sinking into soft soils and, hence, damaging the heel. Furthermore, such heels may cause damage to sensitive wooden floors or parquets.

GB patent No. 834,109 shows and describes a flexible “sock” which serves to protect both the heel and the ground.

The invention aims to provide a device of the initially defined kind which enables the wearer of the shoes to provide the shoe heels in a simple manner with protection means or cross-sectional enlargements so as to facilitate walking on uneven or sloped grounds and protect the heels or stilettos from dirt and influence of the weather. At the same time, the device according to the invention is to provide protection from damage to sensitive grounds like, e.g., parquets. Furthermore, the device to be provided by the invention is to be readily applied and removed without any additional tool and without involving the risk of damage to the heel.

To solve this object, the device according to the invention is essentially characterized in that one end wall of the hollow body comprises a plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means and the oppositely located end wall is designed to be slotted. The device is in fact simply pushed onto the heel or stiletto of the shoe with the slotted end wall ahead. By providing the end wall located opposite the slotted end wall with a plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means, a stable contact surface for the heel will be provided while, at the same time, enlarging the contact surface on the ground. The weight supported by the heel or stiletto will then no longer act on the ground merely by the small surface area of the heel, but will be distributed onto the larger surface area of the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means so as to reduce the punctual pressure exerted on the ground. In particular in soft soils such as, e.g., earth, sand, snow and the like, heels or stilettos having small contact surfaces will be bogged down because of the high surface load, which may not only lead to injuries by tipping over, but may also cause damage to the stiletto, since the latter may become wet or dirty, or even break. The device according to the invention, thus, also provides an effective protection for the heel.

By the configuration as a hollow body, a low-weight device is provided, which requires accordingly small retention forces to remain safely on the heel. Even the removal of the device will be feasible without exerting high forces. The slotted design of the end wall offers a simple way to push the device on the heel, wherein the flexible tongues resulting from the slotted design can be bent inwards and thereby exert an elastic retention force on the heel.

In a preferred manner, the device is configured such that the flexible hollow body is of substantially parallelepiped shape. Other shapes comprising two substantially parallel end walls connected with each other by a jacket extending substantially normally to the end faces, such as, e.g., cylindrical or prism-shaped hollow bodies, are also conceivable. Alternatively, a hollow body of hemispherical shape is conceivable, too.

In a preferred manner, the device is configured such that the flexible hollow body is made of a synthetic material, in particular a non-slip material such as, e.g., latex, neoprene, rubber or the like. By using a non-slip material, the off-road mobility of a shoe reinforced with the device according to the invention will be enhanced. To this end, the material may be adequately machined on the site of contact with the ground, for instance by being additionally roughened. For dancing shoes or shoes that are to have low friction coefficients on the heels, the material can be accordingly smoothened or coated.

In a preferred manner, the device is configured such that the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means is made of a durable or dimensionally stable material such as, e.g., metal or hard plastic. This will prevent especially sharp heels from causing damage to the device and penetrating into the flexible material of the hollow body over time. Similarly, the pressure exerted on the ground will be reduced, since, in this manner, the weight will be distributed over the end face of the hollow body.

The plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means may be incorporated in the hollow body as a separate element. A configuration in which the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means is cast into the end wall so as to provide complete integration into the material of the hollow body is, however, preferred. In this case, the reinforcement or stiffening means can be directly integrated during the manufacturing procedure in the form of a plate that is accordingly harder than the material of the hollow body.

In a preferred manner, the device is configured such that the slotted end wall comprises at least two, preferably four or more, slots oriented radially outwards from the center of the end wall, and the material between the slots forms flexible gripping tongues. By providing several slots in the slotted end wall, the device will be able to safely accommodate the most different stiletto sizes without having to be adapted accordingly, the flexible gripping tongues providing sufficient retention force to keep the device even on differently wide stilettos. A separate step for fastening the device is thus obviated, the device being fastenable by simply stepping with the stiletto into the hollow body.

If the gripping tongues of the hollow body do not engage the heel on the same level, this may cause a moment leading to the tilting of the hollow body. The reinforced end face of the hollow body will then no longer be parallel with the contact surface of the heel, thus rendering walking difficult. In order to prevent such tilting, an additional support wall formed substantially parallel with the slotted end wall and likewise slotted is arranged in the interior of the hollow body such that a normal line connecting the crossing points of the slots of the end wall with that of the support wall will pass substantially normally through the reinforced end wall. This will safely prevent the hollow body from canting and enhance its adherence to the heel by increasing the contact surface between the device and the heel. Such a further development is of particular advantage in the event of thin heels.

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail by way of an exemplary embodiment schematically illustrated in the drawing.

Therein, FIG. 1 is a cross section of the device according to the invention along line I-I of FIG. 3;

FIG. 2 is a cross section according to FIG. 1 with an inserted heel; and

FIG. 3 is a top view on the device according to the invention.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a further configuration of the device according to the invention, including an additional support wall arranged in the hollow body, without and with the inserted heel, respectively.

In FIG. 1, the hollow body of the device is denoted by 1. The hollow body is substantially cube-shaped, having a lower end wall 2 and an upper end wall 3. The jacket is denoted by 4. According to the invention, the lower end wall 2 comprises a plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means 5, which is cast into the end wall 2. As is, in particular, apparent from the top view of FIG. 3, the upper end wall is provided with a plurality of incisions or slots 6 forming gripping tongues 7. In order to facilitate stepping-in with the heel 9 of a shoe, the upper end wall 3 includes an opening 8.

From the cross-sectional illustration according to FIG. 2, it is apparent how the gripping tongues 7 have been bent in the direction to the interior of the hollow body by the introduction of the heel 9 so as to widen the cross-section of the opening 9 according to the cross section of the heel 9. The elastically inwardly bent gripping tongues 7 will thereby exert a retention force on the heel 9.

The cube-shaped hollow body preferably has an edge length of about 25 mm and a wall thickness of about 2 mm, wherein rubber or latex is preferably selected as an elastomeric material. The rigid plate 5 is preferably designed as a metal plat having a plate thickness of 2 mm.

FIGS. 4 and 5 depict a modified configuration, with the same reference numerals having been retained for identical parts. From these, a likewise slotted support wall 10 extending parallel with the end wall 3 is apparent, the contact surface between the heel 9 and the support wall 10 thus increasing the total contact surface abutting on the heel and, hence, contributing to an elevated retention force. Canting of the heel 9 within the hollow body 1 will thereby be prevented. 

1. A device for the protection of floors and/or shoe heels, comprising a flexible hollow body for embracing a shoe heel, wherein a first end wall (2) of the hollow body (1) comprises a plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) and an oppositely located end wall (3) of the hollow body (1) is designed to be slotted, the slotted end wall (3) comprises at least two slots (6) oriented radially outwards from a center of the slotted end wall (3), a support wall (10) is slotted, and is formed substantially parallel with the slotted end wall (3) and arranged in an interior of the hollow body (1), and material of the slotted end wall (3) and of the support wall (10) between the slots forms flexible gripping tongues (7), which are dimensioned to bend inwardly while sliding onto the heel.
 2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible hollow body (1) is of substantially parallelepiped shape.
 3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible hollow body (1) is formed of a synthetic material.
 4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is formed of a durable or dimensionally stable material.
 5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is cast into the first end wall (2).
 6. A method for protecting floors and/or shoe heels, comprising the step of sliding of a device according to claim 1 onto a heel, wherein the flexible gripping tongues are bent inwardly and exert an elastic retention force on the heel.
 7. A method for protecting floors and/or shoe heels, comprising the step of sliding a device according to claim 2 onto a heel, wherein the flexible gripping tongues are bent inwardly and exert an elastic retention force on the heel.
 8. A method for protecting floors and/or shoe heels, comprising the step of sliding a device according to claim 3 onto a heel, wherein the flexible gripping tongues are bent inwardly and exert an elastic retention force on the heel.
 9. A method for protecting floors and/or shoe heels, comprising the step of sliding a device according to claim 4 onto a heel, wherein the flexible gripping tongues are bent inwardly and exert an elastic retention force on the heel.
 10. A method for protecting floors and/or shoe heels, comprising the step of sliding a device according to claim 5 onto a heel, wherein the flexible gripping tongues are bent inwardly and exert an elastic retention force on the heel.
 11. A device according to claim 1, wherein the heel is a stiletto heel.
 12. A device according to claim 1, wherein the slotted end wall (3) comprises four or more slots (6).
 13. A device according to claim 2, wherein the synthetic material of which the flexible hollow body (1) is formed is latex or rubber.
 14. A device according to claim 4, wherein the durable or dimensionally stable material of which the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is formed is metal or hard plastic.
 15. A device according to claim 2, wherein the flexible hollow body (1) is formed of a synthetic material.
 16. A device according to claim 2, wherein the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is formed of a durable or dimensionally stable material.
 17. A device according to claim 3, wherein the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is formed of a durable or dimensionally stable material.
 18. A device according to claim 2, wherein the slotted end wall (3) comprises four or more slots (6), the flexible hollow body (1) is formed of latex or rubber, the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is formed of metal or hard plastic, and the plate-shaped reinforcement or stiffening means (5) is cast into the first end wall (2). 